''Rambaan'' () is a 1948 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language mythological drama film directed and produced by Vijay Bhatt and written by Mohanlal Dave, with dialogue by Pandit Girish. The film starred

Prem Adib Prem Adib (10 August 1917 – 25 December 1959) was an Indian actor. He was acclaimed as one of the top Bollywood actors of the 1940s, along with the likes of Pahari Sanyal, Ashok Kumar, P. C. Barua and Master Vinayak. Adib is best remembered ...

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

and

Shobhana Samarth Shobhana Samarth (née Saroj Shilotri; 17 November 1916 – 9 February 2000) was an Indian director, actress and producer, who began her career in the early days of talkie movies in the Bollywood, Hindi film industry and continued in lead roles ...

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

, with Chandra Mohan, Umakant,

Amirbai Karnataki Amirbai Karnataki ( – 3 March 1965) was a famous actress/singer and playback singer of the early Hindi cinema and was famous as ''Kannada Kokila''. Mahatma Gandhi was an ardent fan of her song '' Vaishnav Jan To''. Early life Amirbai Karn ...

and Raj Adib in other principal characters. The film's music was composed by Shankar Rao Vyas. Bhatt has produced several films based on themes from the epic ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

''. ''Rambaan'' is the third film in Bhatt's trilogy of films based on ''Ramayana'' with Adib as Rama and Samarth as Sita, after ''

Bharat Milap ''Bharat Milap'' is a Bollywood film based on Ramayana. It was released in Bollywood films of 1942, 1942. It is Ramayana from Bharata's point of view and is about the brotherhood of Lord Rama and Bharata. Remakes It was remade into two movies i ...

'' (1942) and '' Ram Rajya'' (1943). Samarth and Adib attained popularity with these films that they were featured as Rama and Sita on calendars, despite Adib being a Muslim.

Plot

with his wife

and brother Lakshman are banished for fourteen years to the forest.

Ravana According to the Mahakavya, Hindu epic, ''Ramayana'', Ravana was a kingJustin W. Henry, ''Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below'', Oxford University Press, p.3 of the island of Lanka, in which he is the chief antag ...

the king of

Lanka Lanka (; ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary Rakshasa king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks kn ...

wants to avenge his sister Surpanakha's humiliation by Lakshman. His plan is to abduct Sita by sending

Maricha In the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'', Maricha, or Mareecha (Sanskrit: मारीच, IAST: ), is a rakshasha, who was killed by Rama, the hero of the epic and an avatar of Vishnu. He is mentioned as an ally of Ravana, the antagonist of the epic. Hi ...

as a golden-spotted deer. Sita sees the deer and wants Rama to go after it as she wants its skin to make a blouse for Lakshman's wife

Urmila Urmila (), is a Hindu goddess and the princess of Videha in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. She is considered to be an avatāra of Nagalakshmi, the serpent goddess. Urmila was married to Lakshmana and is known for her dedication towards her ...

. A cry is heard and thinking it is Rama shouting in pain, Sita sends Lakshman in search. Lakshman, who is loath to go as he has promised Rama to take care of Sita, finally leaves after drawing a line, the Lakshmana rekha, round the cottage to keep Sita safe. Ravan kidnaps Sita by making her step on his sandal that he places inside the Lakshman-rekha. This incident leads to Rama and Lakshman's meeting with

Sugriva Sugriva (, ), is a character In the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana. He is the younger brother of Vali (Ramayana), Vali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara kingdom of Kishkindha. He is a son of Surya, the Hindu deity of the sun. As the king ...

and

Hanuman Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...

where they help in the war against Ravan to get Sita back.

Cast

* Chandra Mohan as

* Umakant * Bhujbal * Ram Singh * Raj Adib *

Leela Mishra Leela Mishra (1 January 1908 – 17 January 1988) was an Indian actress. She worked as a character actor in over 200 Hindi films for five decades, and is best remembered for playing stock characters such as aunts (''Chachi'' or ''Mausi''). She ...

Jankidas Jankidas Mehra (1910 – 18 June 2003) was an Indian actor of Hindi cinema, cyclist, production designer, and writer. He made over 1000 film appearances between the 1930s and 1997. Biography Sports Although various press articles in India ...

Soundtrack

The film had music composed by Shankar Rao Vyas with the lyrics written by Pandit Indra, Neelkanth Tiwari and Moli. The singers included Rajkumari, Lalita Devulkar,

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (; 1 May 1919 − 24 October 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an Indian playback singer, music director, and musician. He had a classical music background, being part of the Bhendibazaar gharana, Bhendibazaar Gh ...

, Saraswati Rane, Phulaji Bua, R. P. Sharma, Shankar Dasgupta and

Song List

Critical reception

''Ram Baan'' came in for harsh criticism from

Baburao Patel Baburao Patel (1904–1982) was an Indian publisher and writer, associated with films and politics. Career Baburao: A Pioneer of Indian Cinema. Baburao was a key figure in the early days of Indian cinema. He started his career as a journalist ...

, editor of ''

Filmindia ''filmindia'' is an Indian monthly magazine covering Indian cinema and published in English language. Started by Baburao Patel in 1935, ''filmindia'' was the first English film periodical to be published from Bombay. The magazine was reportedly ...

''. In his February 1949 issue, he first criticises the director for casting Prem Adib with his "sagging and emaciated muscles" as Rama, and an eight-month pregnant (at the time) Shobhana Samarth as Sita. He then brings out several salient features and scenes in the film that are "sacriligious distortions" as compared to Valmiki's Ramayana. He points out a confused mix of characters and locations. He further mentions that Bhatt's portrayal of Ravana as a drunk with rolling eyes shouting "Main Kaun...? Ravan!" (Who am I...? Ravan!) in every second scene is a contempt which "drags the character down".

References

External links

* {{Vijay Bhatt 1948 films 1940s Hindi-language films Films based on the Ramayana Hindu mythological films Films directed by Vijay Bhatt Indian black-and-white films